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Telehealth with a Mental Health Professional: What to Know Before You Start

2024-03-28T20:58:07-04:00May 5th, 2022|Categories: Dialysis, eNews, Kidney Transplant, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Stress Management|

By Kirsten Weir If you or a family member are managing chronic kidney disease, you’re probably thinking a lot about physical health—the health of the kidney and the rest of the body. Caring for your mental health is just as important. And with telehealth options that let you see a mental health professional from your home, it’s more convenient than ever. “The increased availability and acceptance of telehealth might be one of the few positive changes to come out of the [COVID-19] pandemic,” says Amy Walters, PhD, a clinical health psychologist and the director of Behavioral Health Services for St. Luke's [...]

Exercise for Both Physical and Mental Health

2024-03-28T20:58:08-04:00May 2nd, 2022|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Physical Health|

It is well known that exercise is important to maintain physical health, but new studies have shown that the benefits of exercise extend to mental health as well. Researchers looked at 15 existing studies that contain data on exercise and depression and have found a correlation between depression risk and physical activity. Even when someone wasn’t exercising as intensely or as often as advised by the US Department of Health and Human Services, there were still significant mental health benefits. The 15 studies used, which included over 191,000 participants total, found that people who did half the recommended amount of physical [...]

To Change or Not to Change?

2024-03-28T20:58:12-04:00April 25th, 2022|Categories: Lifestyle, Mental Health, Nutrition, Physical Health, Staying Healthy, The Kidney Citizen|

By Dr. Stacy Ogbeide, Board Certified Clinical Health Psychologist www.stacyogbeide.com “Why is change so hard?” I hear this statement often from the patients I see in primary care. From taking a medication as prescribed to starting an exercise program – change is hard. Having a chronic health condition like Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) can be difficult because, like many other chronic health conditions, CKD is heavily influenced by lifestyle and behavior modifications. What is a person to do? “I just need to do it.” “I will change when I want to change.” “I will start next week.” “I want [...]

Wellness and Mental Health While Living with Rare Disease

2024-03-28T20:58:14-04:00April 25th, 2022|Categories: Lifestyle, Mental Health, Physical Health, Stress Management, The Kidney Citizen, What Causes Kidney Disease|

  By Maya Doyle, MSW, PhD Cystinosis is a rare lysosomal storage disorder (1) that is typically diagnosed in childhood and typically results in kidney failure and progression to dialysis and/or kidney transplant. In the United States, a disease is considered rare if it is affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are approximately 7,000 rare diseases affecting between 25 and 30 million Americans – this means 1 in 10 people may be affected by a rare condition (2). The experience of a rare condition can be very isolating because of the [...]

How to Care for Yourself When You’re a Caregiver

2024-03-28T20:58:33-04:00March 8th, 2022|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Nutrition, Physical Health, Quality of Life, Staying Healthy, Stress Management|

Being a caregiver is a huge responsibility – whether you’re a parent, spouse, or sibling, being fully responsible for the well-being of someone else can be a full-time job. When you also need to juggle work or raising children as well, it is no wonder that the caregiver’s needs are often what gets neglected. Studies have shown that no matter the age, sex, race, or ethnicity of the caregiver, all are more likely to be sleep-deprived, unable to exercise regularly, and have poor eating habits.  They are also less likely to keep up with doctor’s appointments for themselves or allow themselves [...]

Identifying Health Misinformation

2024-03-28T20:58:34-04:00March 1st, 2022|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Physical Health|Tags: |

Over the last two years, people have been exposed to a lot of information, from many different sources, regarding COVID-19. There are many reputable sources for health information, such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO). However, there has been a recent rise in health misinformation, which caused confusion about vaccination and other public health measures, such as masking and social distancing. Although health misinformation is not new, with more people having access to the internet and various social media platforms, it has spread in recent years at an unprecedented rate. In order to keep yourself, [...]

COVID-19 and Patients with Kidney Disease on Dialysis

2024-03-28T20:58:35-04:00February 25th, 2022|Categories: Dialysis, Employment, eNews, Immunizations, Kidney Transplant, Lifestyle, Mental Health|Tags: |

By Alan Kliger, MD Updated March 18, 2022 I am writing this mid-March 2022, as the last peak of COVID infection with the Omicron variant has rapidly fallen in every US state, but wastewater analysis has shown places in the US where virus infection in some communities is rising again. A new sub-variant, BA.2 is making up about 23% of cases. Abroad, the United Kingdom is seeing increasing hospitalizations with COVID infection, and many locations in the far east have raging infections. The effects of the surge in Omicron cases around the world this past winter have deeply affected [...]

Sifting Through the Many Options for Integrative Chronic Pain Treatment

2024-03-28T20:58:57-04:00October 8th, 2021|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Medication, Mental Health, News & Events, Physical Health, Quality of Life, Staying Healthy, Stress Management|

For the more than 50 million Americans who experience chronic pain every day, trying to create a treatment plan can be an exhausting battle. Due to the complex nature and differences in individuals’ pain, it is usually most effect to have an integrated or multidisciplinary treatment plan, which is the use of different methods of treatments together in order to manage/reduce pain. Although there are a wide range of integrated treatments that exist, multidisciplinary specialists are hard to come by, causing most of the research to fall onto the patient. While it is still important to work closely with your doctor [...]

Anxiety and Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T20:59:00-04:00August 30th, 2021|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Stress Management|Tags: |

By Kathy Aebel-Groesch, MSW, LCSW It will come as no surprise that anxiety has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (not to mention the political and social climate).  Even those of us who have never experienced anxiety may be finding ourselves affected. Anxiety can affect how we function in daily life--imagine yourself in a situation where you have felt extremely anxious… How did you feel physically? How clearly could you think or concentrate? How thoroughly could you have learned important information or skills? The interdisciplinary care team at the dialysis clinic is there to support you if anxiety could be affecting your [...]

Here’s why the CDC recommends wearing masks indoors even if you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19

2024-03-28T20:59:03-04:00August 1st, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Lifestyle, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

By Peter Chin-Hong, University of California, San Francisco. What science supports masking after vaccination? Masks help stop the spread of the coronavirus. They’re a literal layer between you and any virus in the air and can help prevent infection. The reason public health officials are calling for more mask-wearing is that there is clear and mounting evidence that – though rare – breakthrough COVID-19 infections can occur in people who are fully vaccinated. This is particularly true with emerging variants of concern. The good news is that COVID-19 infection, if it does happen, is much less likely to lead to serious illness or death in vaccinated people. Some [...]

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